I entered, its stone walls lined

ories. Father stood hunched over

s he studied a dispatch that

closing the door behind me with

ng whatever crisis had emerged s

ounc

ok up from the parchment. "Three v

ld military signatures, but Lord C

actions of bandi

, the table's width creating a st

em, then offer to solve it

lly raised his eyes to meet mine, a

s this marriage even more neces

efore it's too late t

ifice your daug

sal to protect this kingdom." His

g you, if

g after twenty-two years of similar treatment. But the pain still cut deep, especially co

though rage burned in my chest. "And if

turned back to the dispatch, effec

the time to prepare yourself

measured steps, maintaining the fa

nd his sight

t as I made my way to the one place

't crush me beneath its familiar

from living rock and lined with

will and bl

I sought. Hidden behind a false wal

tions of Blackthorne women,

echanism with practiced ease, pre

enturies. The wall swung inward on

fungi that cast everything

er's walls, each one a relic of p

attle. Others had been allies who

death. All of them hummed with

nd my pul

ot the kind that came from crowns or armies, but the dee

lacing my great-grandmother's skull

ster, who'd died in the plague twe

o time but whose wisdom rem

r than Shadowmere itself, pass

n life and death. I pricked my fing

ach skull while speaking the word

or

d loss, I call upon the wisdom of

y lies, of the path that lead

fire, their empty sockets filling wit

ature dropped noticeably, my brea

rldly voices be

her tone heavy with sorrow: "Chil

me carries more weight t

letting the spirits' energy wash over me

s, higher and more frantic: "The

. It wasn't just murder, Seraph

d in my ve

was carved with symbols. Ancient

queen's voice carried the weigh

h to power a b

ok as I gripped the skulls m

ed buried," my great-grandmother

decades. Your mother's death was

rki

implications crashed through my

for political convenience-she'd

ad been build

"This betrothal-it's not ju

icipation from the Blackthorne bloo

sent, linking bloodlines and spi

they started with y

are they tryin

like breaking glass: "Power beyond

but the dead themselves. They s

right of birth

t that had made me unique among th

. The Thornfields wanted to claim

nd ritua

her said, her voice growing fainte

s the mark. He's been prepared sin

ndi

at m

g infancy. Symbols that will activa

your power and their bloodline."

ng, if you share his bed, you'll lo

re

pirits retreated into their eter

wledge that changed everything.

as about preventing the

ly replacing the relics in their

ince Aldric arrived. Twelve days to

m from whatever dark purpose

t, I need

er secret-mother's private cham

rk of concealed tunnels that honey

le to face the memories tha

mories might be th

ad the morning after her death. Fur

ing, her jewelry scattered across th

ring for the

ng out drawers with careful precisio

t grain shipments, thank-you notes

the bottom drawer he

collection of letters tied with

, and the handwriting belonged to s

ligr

embling fingers and read the

t the Northern Alliance are noted,

sh. The bloodline gifts must be pre

u will understand that some sacri

hout willing participation from

quire. Trust that all we do serves th

ership

y mother before her death, speaki

rifi

etter was eve

orces us to accelerate our timeline.

nderstanding. The ritual will proce

cy of making this easy for all invol

if your li

dated three days bef

complete, and the binding circle ha

mstances. Console yourself with the

for future generations. The pri

could barely hold the parchment. E

conspiracy that stretched back ye

cri

prepared to leave Mother's chamb

liar, and filled wi

raph

t hammering against my ribs. Ther

eal, stood my m

word came out a

I could see the terrible wound acr

she spoke, her voice carried the

ying

ecious girl. You're

letters. I understand

re planning to do." Her image flick

need the marriage to finish what

omething

Wh

al-it's not just yours. They've b

family through ritual and sacrific

that unlocks a

abilities at stake, but the accumulated power of dozens of bloodlines, all waiting to be

o I sto

r form growing more translucent wi

the ritual, turn it back on itself

ce-he's not what he seems. Neither

re dang

leaving only the faint scent of ros

under

tching letters that proved conspir

hing I'd learned. Twelve days to de

determine not just my fate, but th

th i

beginning. But two could play at

e art of patien

bring his father's plans and his

to make me

be